Page 24 of Rescuing Our Bride

I flinch when I feel a hand wrap around my wrist. Another hand closes around my other wrist. “No,” I scream again.

“Baby.”

The endearment snaps me out of my terror-induced haze. Patrick never called me baby before, and he sure as hell wouldn’t do it now. I force myself to open my eyes and a sob breaks free at the sight of them.

Mark and Jax make short work of the knots and release me from the bonds while whispering comforting words and soothing sounds.

“Let’s get you cleaned up.” Jax scoops me off the bed and cradles me to his chest for a moment before setting me on my feet. “I thought we wouldn’t make it in time.”

His hands tremble as he collects my clothes scattered around the room and helps me get dressed while Mark calls the police.

“How did you know? How did you find me?” I rasp. My throat feels like I swallowed razor blades and chased them with shards of glass.

“I put a tracking device in your bag.” Jax shrugs as if that’s a normal thing to do, which in our circumstances, I guess it is.

“Told you we should have killed him,” Mark grumbles, shoving his phone into the back pocket of his jeans before enveloping me in the safety of his arms.

“Kind of a moot point now, jackass.” Jax jerks his head toward the door. “Come on, we’ll wait for the cops downstairs.”

“Why did you call the police?” The reality of our situation comes crashing down around me. How the hell are we going to explain this? “They won’t believe us. We’re going to be arrested.”

“No one is going to arrest us for killing a piece of shit like Patrick Calhoun. The cops have been after him for years. Even if we lied, which we don’t have to since he abducted you and tied you up in his bed, they wouldn’t push our story too hard. We did them a favor, trust me.”

And I do. I trust them with my life. But more importantly, my heart.

EPILOGUE

ANNA

Four months later

Winter break. Finally. I thought the semester would never end. I’m exhausted and not just because of my grueling course schedule. In hindsight, doubling down on classes wasn’t the best idea. Especially once we found out I was pregnant. Morning sickness and raging hormones zap my energy, and I’ve been struggling to stay awake through my afternoon classes. Still, as long as I do well on my final exams, my 4.0 GPA will remain intact. I promised Mark and Jax to cut back in the spring and take more courses online instead of on campus. They didn’t have to twist my arm too hard. As excited as I am to earn my degree and become a teacher, I’m more excited to become a mom. I want to enjoy my pregnancy and the baby when he or she makes their debut in the world. Juggling school and motherhood won’t be easy, but I know I can do it.

And I’ll do it on my timeline, on my terms.

Mom’s cancer is in remission again, thanks to her amazing doctors and the experimental treatments we could finally afford without insurance, courtesy of Mark and Jax. They paid for everything, including her outstanding debts to the hospital and oncologists back home. The guest house is finished, and she’s been busy putting her shine on things; her eclectic flare showing in each throw pillow she piles on the couch and print she frames and hangs on the wall. She’s not surviving. She’s thriving in the life Mark and Jax have made for her here, and I couldn’t be more grateful for them making sure their baby has a grandmother to love and cherish them as much as we will.

“Hey, babe.” Jax pads barefoot into the living room, his pajama pants slung low on his hips, a welcome distraction from the economics book I’m slogging through as I study for my next exam. “Come check this out.”

He takes my hand in his and tugs me from the nest of blankets I’ve made on the couch, and leads me up to the nursery, where he and Mark have been assembling the crib with an excessive and hilarious amount of curse words.

The room is done up in soft neutrals. It’s too early in the pregnancy to determine the sex, but we want it to be a surprise, anyway. In the center of the room is the mahogany sleigh crib I picked out with a moon and star mobile hanging above it.

“What do you think?” Mark watches me from the matching rocking chair in the corner of the room.

“I love it. It’s perfect,” I tell them, with a watery smile, my eyes brimming with tears. “Just like the two of you.”

“Perfect, huh?” Mark plants his feet and pushes himself out of the rocker. “Does that mean we get rewarded for doing such a good job?”

“A reward, hmm?” I tap my finger against my lips. “I’m sure I can come up with something.”

Jax moves up behind me, pressing his erection against my ass as he sandwiches me between him and Mark. “I’ve already come up with something.”

“I can tell.” I let out a breathy chuckle, followed by a moan as he slides his hand between us, over my breast, and pinches my hardened nipple between his fingers.

We move to our bedroom, where they take their sweet time removing my clothes, trailing kisses over every inch of skin they expose.

Jax slips his hand between my legs, delving two fingers between my slick folds. “Always so wet for us, baby.”

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